Cloud over 1,666cr Malad bridge contract after claims that fairness norm not followed

Mumbai: A Rs 1,666-crore contract for a bridge and an elevated road in Malad West has come under a cloud after doubts were raised over the fairness and competitive bidding process for the tender that was floated afresh last year following claims of cartelisation and rigging.The contract is set to be awarded to a joint venture of J Kumar-RPS, which bid 1.8% higher than the BMC's estimate, after it invoked the right of first refusal (ROFR), a clause that gives a party priority to match any third-party offer.
BMC had first floated a tender in Oct 2024 worth Rs 1,928 crore, but it was cancelled in July 2025 even before the bids were opened following a letter by MLA Aslam Shaikh alleging bid rigging. In Sept, the civic body issued a new tender with an expanded scope and a revised estimate of Rs 2,250 crore. The model, too, was changed to ‘design and build' and included an RoFR clause in favour of J Kumar-RPS. When the financial bids were opened in Dec, L&T emerged as the lowest bidder at Rs 1,666 crore, but J Kumar-RPS invoked the RoFR clause to match its price. BMC has said RoFR was granted to offset a Rs 350-crore claim raised by J Kumar after the civic body scrapped an elevated road project from Eastern Freeway (Orange Gate) to Grant Road in south Mumbai that had been awarded to the firm. "Were it not granted, the firm's claim would have ended in arbitration, on which BMC would have ended up spending a large sum. We had to award work of an equal size to the firm. We have not bypassed the competitive bidding process," said a senior civic official. But some have alleged that the ROFR clause was extended without verifying J Kumar's claim of Rs 350 crore incurred on mobilisation of resources and preliminary expenses. Since even the lowest bid was below the revised estimate despite the expanded scope, it has raised questions about cost inflations. According to Shaikh's letter, even the lowest bid in the first tender was 13.6% below the estimated cost. Civic officials said in engineering, procurement and construction contracts, the bids by contractors can be lower as there are various factors at play, including design and economies of scale for a firm. An official of a private company engaged with BMC said the first tender was cancelled without any reason being given, but civic officials asserted that it was scrapped due to administrative reasons, including the need to increase the scope of work. Besides L&T and J Kumar-RPS, Ashoka Buildcon and NCC Ltd had qualified for the technical bids round of the second tender. Barring L&T, the bids of all firms were above BMC's estimate.